Diego de Almagro

Diego de Almagro el Adelantado (1475-8 July 1538) was a conquistador of Spain who was the first man to explore Chile for Europe. He took part in the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and became a rival of Francisco Pizzaro, with whom his family warred. Diego was garroted to death by Pizzaro on 8 July 1538.

Biography
Diego de Almagro was born in the town of Almagro in the Kingdom of Castile in 1475, and he became one of the many Spanish explorers sent to search for the New World that Christoffo Colombo had explored. On 30 June 1514, Almagro arrived in present-day Panama at the city of Santa Maria la Antigua del Darien, where fellow conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro had already arrived. In December of 1515, he began an expedition with Pizzaro and Hernando de Luque, with whom he became close friends. He built the city of Acla and Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the new governor of the city. He also aided Gaspar de Espinosa in his conquest of the Panamanian Isthmus and his Pacific Ocean explorations.

In August 1524, Almagro and his friends gained enough resources to explore more lands to the south. In 1532, he assisted Pizzaro in his conquest of Peru during the Battle of Cajamarca, massacring Inca Empire warriors and capturing King Atahualpa. After taking over the city, Pizzaro sent Almagro to conquer the Inca city of Quito (present-day Ecuador) and take over the large storage of gold in the city. However, the Inca general Ruminahui destroyed the city and hid the gold in a place where the Spanish would never find it. Sebastian de Belalcazar had already witnessed the destruction of the city, but Almagro was sent to claim the city before Belalcazar could. He built the town of Santiago de Quito, and also built the city of Villa Trujillo de Nueva Castila (present-day Trujillo) in honor of Pizzaro's birthplace in 1534. That year, he was sent south of Spain's conquered lands to explore additional lands. He finished off the southern remnants of the Inca Empire in present-day Chile, the first European to explore the country. In 1535, Almagro took to the Inca trail with 750 Spanish troops and attempted to find the gold given in the ransom of Atahualpa, but when he reached the Andes, many of his men's boots were stuck in the snow. Many of his men died of frostbite and starvation, and he considered giving up the land, but he made it to the safety of Copiapo in a valley. He was able to settle the lands for Spain, building a new colony. The Battle of Reinohuelen forced the local Mapuche to retreat, but in September 1536 he withdrew to Peru (without having founded a city for Spain) so that he could build an inheritance for his son; the city of Cuzco was his to take.

At the time of his return, Manco Qapac had started a rebellion with Inca warriors against Spanish rule. The Sacred Valley was almost overrun by the Incas, so Almagro offered Manco a payment as a pardon. Manco accepted, letting Almagro advance on Cuzco. He occupied the city in the absence of the Pizzaro brothers, and he defeated the Pizzaro brothers Hernando Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro in battle. Almagro defeated the army of Alonso de Alvarado on 12 July 1537 at the Battle of Abancay and took over Peru. However, he soon fell ill and the Pizzaro brothers had their chance to reclaim power.

Death
In April 1538, the Almagristas were defeated at the battle of Las Salinas. The Nuevo Toledo army of Almagro lost their general Rodrigo Orgonez to the Nueva Castilla army of the Pizzaro Brothers on 26 April 1538, and he was captured. He begged for his life, but Hernando Pizzaro asked him not to display weakness, and Almagro was garroted to death. Almagro was then decapitated, and his head publicly displayed to other would-be rebels. He was buried under the La Merced Church in Cuzco.